10
Ben
The house was quite possibly the grandest thing he had ever seen in his life. When Ben was in sixth grade, his entire class had gone to Washington D.C. and visited the White House. It had been imposing and over the top, but Ben wasn’t entirely sure that it was nicer than this one.
They walked around to the front door and entered, and Ben gaped. This wasn’t just a mansion. It was a castle. The front entrance was all light tile and white paneling, with a dark wood staircase. He’d joked about the storage buildings being bigger than his studio, but honestly, this entrance alone might just be. It wasn’t even like there was much furniture in here. Just a long bench along the far wall and a table with a plant on it in the center of the room. If this was just the entrance, the rest was going to blow him away.
“We’ll give you the grand tour later, but first, let’s get your suitcase upstairs.”
He looked over and saw his battered suitcase, out of place amidst all the fine furnishings of the house, and winced.
“Sorry, I didn’t know um…I would have brought a better suitcase.” Like he had a better suitcase.
Bradley waved his hand in dismissal. “Nonsense. We like to keep things casual here. It’s a vacation home, after all. We’re here to get away.”
Ben had a feeling that his version of casual and Bradley’s were two very different things.
“I’ll let you go get them settled and check on the pie,” Roz said, then headed in the direction of what Ben assumed was the kitchen.
Rather than leading them up the staircase, like Ben thought he was going to, Bradley led them over to the side of the entrance hall, to a door that was somewhat larger than the rest. He opened it to reveal an elevator. An actual, honest to god elevator. In a vacation house. Ben had to be dreaming. He clasped his hands together behind his back and pinched himself, but no, he was definitely awake. Sam shot him a curious look, but Ben just shook his head. He didn’t need another discussion about money and family.
They reached the third floor in a matter of seconds, the elevator opening onto a fairly neutral landing. The house might have been giant, but it was at least tastefully decorated. They stopped at a bedroom at the end of the hall, and Ben opened the door.
It was huge, but by now, Ben was somewhat used to that. The walls were a taupe, with white chair rail paneling and the floors were a light wood. It seemed that blue was the theme of the room. The rug on the floor depicted a nature scene done in blue, and blue flowery curtains hung on either side of the windows. A series of blue prints hung above the bed, and even the spindly sofa was covered in blue fabric. But the most impressive feature of the room was a massive marble fireplace that was crackling merrily away along one wall.
“This room okay?” Bradley asked, setting the suitcase just inside, by the door. “It doesn’t have a terrace like Ambra and Mat’s, but they always take that room.”
Ben wondered if Matías actually preferred being called Mat, or if the Hayward family just called him that to make him sound more white.
“Yeah, the room’s fine. Where’s Sam’s room?”
Bradley chuckled, looking between the two of them. “This is it. Look, we’re not one of those families that tries to act like their kids never have sex. You’re young. You’re together and it makes sense that you would want to share a room.”
His stomach had turned to lead. Ben was sure of it. There was no way that he was going to share a room with Sam, because that would mean sharing a bed with Sam. It was one thing to agree to pretend to be his date for the weekend, but sleeping in the same bed as a man who didn’t like him back was going to cause all sorts of problems
“Dad, I don’t think—” Sam’s eyes were wide as he tried to save the situation.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Besides, there aren’t any more rooms. Grandma Hattie’s sleeping in one, your mom and I are taking one, Ambra and Mat have one, and Aunt Louise, Uncle Richmond, and their kids took the master suite.”
“What about the loft upstairs? I could take that,” Sam protested.
Bradley shook his head. “Uncle George and Aunt Harper are up there with their kids.”
Judging by Sam’s reaction, he was out of options.
“Jesus, guys, I’ve never seen a couple so eager to be away from each other. Things aren’t already going south with you two, are they?”
“Of course not,” Ben said quickly. He wasn’t going to let Sam down on the very first day. “I just feel like I’m coming down with a cold and I didn’t want to get Sam sick. You know what he’s like when he’s sick.”
Ben didn’t actually know what Sam was like when he was sick, but fortunately, that didn’t seem to matter, as Bradley laughed.
“Oh yeah, I know what he’s like, but he’s your responsibility now, buddy.” Bradley clapped him on the shoulder. “Anyway, I’m going to let you two get settled in. If you need anything, just shout. Loudly. It’s a big house.”
He closed the door behind him, leaving Ben and Sam alone.
Sam sat down on the sofa and crossed his arms. “Well. Shit.”
“I mean, the least they could do was put a real sofa in here. Not this thing that looks like it’s from the eighteen hundreds.” He realized just where he was. “It isn’t from the eighteen hundreds, is it?”
“I don’t think so. Just looks that way. But you’re right, it definitely isn’t for sleeping on. You take the bed. I’ll take the floor,” Sam said.
“The floor? Are you kidding me?”
“What other option is there?”
We could sleep together. The words were on the tip of his tongue, just waiting to be spoken. But he couldn’t bring himself to suggest it. Sam had made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want a relationship.
“I could sleep on the floor. I got pretty used to it when I was in South America.”
“What kind of stuff were you doing in South America that you needed to sleep on the floor?”
“Helping with rainforest conservation in Peru. It was actually really cool. I got to live in the Amazon and work at the animal rescue center.”
“And they didn’t have beds?”
“They had bungalows, but when I got there, all the beds had been taken. It wasn’t that hard, sleeping on the floor.” Ben knew Sam was deflecting the conversation, though. “Which means I should be the one doing it this weekend.”
“Yes, but you’re a guest in my house, so you should get the bed. I’m not so pampered that I can’t sleep on the floor. I used to go camping all the time.”
Ben couldn’t see that. Sam didn’t look like the kind of guy who went camping. Ben did, and he knew that. He wore flannel out of season with cut-off jeans and Toms, and his beard certainly gave him the appearance of someone who liked the outdoors.
On the other hand, Sam looked like the kind of person who wouldn’t seem out of place at a craft beer festival or a singer/songwriter open mic night. Where Ben had a beard, he was clean-shaven. Instead of plaid flannel and Toms, Sam preferred plain tee shirts and cargo shorts, and Ben thought his glasses made him look like a dark-blond Clark Kent. At least, the Henry Cavil version of Clark Kent. Ben blinked.
“You went camping?” he asked, forcing his mind back on the subject at hand.
Sam rolled his eyes. “Yes, I went camping. I’ll have you know I was a Boy Scout.”
Ben let his mind wander again, this time to all the ways Sam could use those knot-tying skills he learned.
“Now that I can see,” he said. “Serving the community, getting those badges.”
“Damn right. And I was good at it. And we slept outside plenty of times. I got my wilderness badge and everything.”
“Wilderness badge or no, I’m not letting you sleep on the floor.”
“We’ll just have to see about that,” Sam said. “Now put your stuff away. They’ll be expecting us downstairs.”